Nathan Newman:
> Some of it was part of such trends and global economic changes that
> encouraged neoliberal policies worldwide. But some of it was just poor
> political organizing by the left in the US. The corporate Right made
> specific alliances with working class whites around guns and god issues,
> while the Left largely abandoned any strategic vision of electoral politics.
> Specific groups like unions and the NAACP still work hard at them, but a lot
> of the Left sees majoritarian politics and the compromises needed to win
> control of government as ideologically suspect.
>
> So it's hardly surprising that the Right has done so well taking over
> government. That doesn't mean they've won any conclusive ideological
> battles, although control of government does help at times in those kinds of
> struggles. But it is a mistake to mistake policy success -- especially in a
> system as closely balanced and divided on many issues for years -- with
> seismic shifts in public beliefs.
I think it's a mistake to believe that what happened in 1980-84 was merely technical. The Right are not particularly smarter than everyone else, so their technical successes could be expected to be balanced by their technical failures.
-- Gordon